Sustainability in action, on a local level, within a global context. The first ‘Transition Town’ initiative was established in Totnes, in Devon, England, in 2006 … and new Transition Towns have been popping up ever since, across the UK and in many other countries, including Australia. Victoria alone is home to more than 60 initiatives, at varying stages of development or maturity. Each local Transition group takes on a life of its own, according to the skills and goals of the local community that supports it. Inspiration and ideas are drawn from the local context as well as other Transition initiatives, while resources, training…

The first sunday of May marks the annual ‘International Day of Permaculture’ – a celebration of permaculture around the world. Over the past seven years, what started out as a grass roots Australian initiative has since grown into a global day of permaculture activities and events, celebrated in over 35 countries. In fact, the activities often extend throughout the month of May. Bill Mollison and David Holmgren’s early development of the ‘permaculture’ concept, in Tasmania in the mid-1970s, arose out of their research and investigation into ethical and environmentally sustainable forms of ‘permanent agriculture’ and the social structures to support this. Permaculture has since evolved into a global…